Chapter 229: A Child

I introduced myself to Rupert but he is still looking at me with suspicion.

Seeing him like that, Alois followed up for me.

Your Highness, Grau is a great strategist who fought against the 10,000 imperial soldiers with me. It was thanks to him that I managed to defeat them!

Theres a difference between a great person and a person you can trust! I wont trust him unless he shows me his face!

Saying so, Rupert clings to the bed and refuses to move.

Even though Alois should already have explained the situation to him too.

Your Highness. Please trust us. We will definitely protect you!

Alois is only twelve years old right!? You are not much older than me so theres no way that you can keep me safe! It would be safer if I just stay in my room!

Ages doesnt matter here, Your Highness. I will protect you as it is my duty as an imperial noble. There will be knights who will be fighting alongside me as well.

Alois looks at the knights who are also present in the room.

The number is five. All of them are knights from Simmel Earldom who faced the Imperial Army with Alois.

Theres only five people right!? The opponent is Gordon-aniue you know!? The generals who support him are all skilled! If they are coming to seize the castle then I dont want to go out with only this many knights!!

Rupert stubbornly insists on staying in the room.

His thoughts were based on the wishful thinking of a child.

Prince Rupert. Defending against a siege battle without any prospect of reinforcement is a foolish idea. Are you perhaps expecting some kind of reinforcement?

F, Father will surely come for me! Even if he cant, there are Imperial Knights in the castle! They will surely!

I see. Then you may stay in this room alone. I will make sure to relay your wish to Prince Arnold.

Eh?

When I told him to do as he pleased and tried to leave the room.

It was Alois who stopped me.

Pl, Please wait a minute! Grau!

If he is saying that he will stay in this room then we cant move together. You have to quickly move out as well. The more time passes, the more control the enemy will have over the castle.

I understand that. But I cant leave His Highness Rupert alone.

How much do you think this prince is worth when he says that this room is more reliable than us?

He is the younger brother of His Highness Arnold. He has that much worth to me. The Earldom of Simmel will never forget our debt to him. His protection was entrusted to me thats why I can not leave his side until I die. I will not abandon him.

thats what he said, Prince Rupert. He is willing to give you his life even if you choose to cling to that bed and keep crying you know.

Its, its not like I asked Arnold-aniue to help me in the first placehe just did it on his own.

..I think you are misunderstanding something so allow me to correct you. It wasnt out of kindness that Prince Arnold dispatched Alois to protect you. It was your mother who desperately begged that dull prince. She told him that it is fine to leave her behind, it is you alone that she wants him to protect. Prince Arnold did not choose to send someone to escort his own mother and sent Alois to your side instead. If you dont understand what that means then you can say it now. If you have the nerve to trample on your mothers wish and your brothers feelings then I will accept it.

From under the hood, I looked straight at Rupert.

Feeling the strong gaze directed at him, Ruperts body shook.

I, I

Lets say that you choose to stay in your room as you said. The number of enemies is not only a hundred or two. This fragile door will not protect you. How much time do you think that it can buy? Do you think that your father can send someone to rescue you in time? Let me say this, Emperor Johannes is not so sweet and omnipotent as you think. If Prince Gordon starts the rebellion, the Emperors priority would be his personal protection for the sake of preserving the Empire. If he is forced to abandon his children then he will do it. Especially when it is a prince who has no prospect for the throne nor any achievements to himself like you.

Th, the Imperial Knights will come to help me! They are the Empires strongest!

Prince Gordon will try to cover the Imperial Capital with a barrier to keep anyone from escaping and prevent any reinforcements from the outside. The Imperial Knights are guarding the key jewels. They can not afford to protect you.

I slowly closed off Ruperts escape routes with powerful reasoning.

Although there was still some time to spare, the soldiers in the castle had already begun to move.

The faster we can move, the more advantage we will have but with Rupert being difficult, we ended up wasting that advantage.

Alois may think that he has to be considerate since he is only a ten years old child.

However, we have no room to consider such childish emotions.

You have two choices. Stay in this room or leave. If you choose to stay in this room, you will definitely be caught. It is unlikely that the Emperor will come to help you. If you choose to leave, your life will be in danger but you will have the possibility where you managed to escape. If you are caught together with the other consorts and the Emperors beloved Princess Christa then he might actually do everything he can to rescue you. However, the possibility that he would come to help you when you alone got captured is zero.

N, No way

The worst thing that could happen to you is if we succeed in escaping while you alone are captured. In that case, the Emperor will never come to rescue you. Who would help someone who threw away his chance of salvation? I would never help someone like that. Unless there is a reason compelling enough for me to do so that is.

And unfortunately, there is absolutely no such reason for me to help Rupert.

Gordon would not find much value in him as a hostage.

Considering the disadvantage of having a child as a hostage, he would choose to kill him first as a show of power.

Thats why Rupert must escape this castle.

Hurry and decide. Will you escape with us or will you stay here? We do not have time to wait, you know?

E, even if you say that!

Rupert started to cry at my harsh words.

It may be a natural reaction for a normal ten years old who was raised so closely by his mother but the circumstances surrounding him are anything but normal.

Seeing him like that, Alois gently approaches such Rupert.

Your Highness. I understand your feelings well. When the Imperial Army marched to my land, I also wanted to cry. I wanted to close my eyes and wish that it was not real.

.Alois, how did you get through it..?

I thought about the things that I must protect. I had to protect the people of my land. I couldnt abandon my mother. Thats why I fight. Your Highness should be the same. Your esteemed mother is important to Your Highness, no?

Un

Then lets escape together. Even if your mother is caught, if you run away, her value as a hostage will increase. Even if thats not the case, if you escape while your mother is escaping as well, the enemy will be forced to split up. Not for the Empire, not because you are a member of the Imperial Family, you can leave those thoughts behind. It is for the adult to think about such a thing. Still,-even as a child, you can do your best to protect your mother.

In response to Aloiss words, Ruperts face changed a little.

He is timid and even now he looks like he could start crying at any moment but.

He is not crying.

Alois..you are like an adult

I am also a child. I can not do much yet but as Grau says, time doesnt wait for us to grow up. Children often picture what they want to be in the future but sometimes, crises like this visited us before we can grow up. Thats where we are. Theres no choice but to deal with it since it has already arrived at our door. If you wanted to be a knight then this moment is the time that you have to become one. If you want to be a good prince then the time is now. If we have something that you want to become in the future then this is the moment that we can become one.

But, we are only children you know?

Even a child can be anything he wants. A child is a child. If someone thinks that they can not become something then it is simply because that person doesnt have enough insight. Right now, at this moment, I am your Imperial Knight. Please come with us with confidence. The Imperial Knights are the Empires strongest after all.

Saying so, Alois reached his hand out for Rupert.

Rupert took that hand.

I thought about putting him to sleep and just take him away if this dragged on but it seems that wont be necessary.

Now, Grau. Please tell us your plan. His Highness Arnold told us to meet up with him at the throne room but the road there will probably not be an easy one.

I understand. Leave it to me.

The moment I answered.

I heard the sound of footsteps from outside the room.

Rupert inadvertently hugs Alois but Aloiss hand is already reaching for his sword.

Although he is only two years older than him, the difference between them probably came from experience.

What was that?

The soldiers must be on the other side of the door.

Saying so, I open the door.

Doing so, I saw several soldiers sleeping on the floor.

I guess they were waiting for us to come out huh.

It was just right so I used the sleep magic I was planning to use on Alois on them.

It is a magic that is not effective on those who are mentally strong but if it is just common soldiers then they would be falling into a deep sleep.

Y, You are a mage..?

No, Im a strategist.

Saying so, I started walking out with a grin on my face.

Rupert seemed to be unconvinced of that answer but Alois and the knights immediately followed me so he hurriedly followed after us.

While we walk the noise from the lower floors is starting to get louder.

So they gave up on trying to take the hostages quietly and start capturing the castle in earnest huh.

Judging from the sound, the army must have captured the middle levels already.

When I looked outside, it seems that several soldiers are trying to leave the castle but they are caught or killed by the other soldiers who are supposed to be their comrades.

It seems that not all soldiers are willing to participate in the rebellion.

They must have tried to relay the situation to Father.

However, there should be no need for that.

I think the other side should be starting to move as well.

Muttering so, I glance at the arena.

But thats all I do.

Orihime is at Fathers side and the Prime Minister is there as well.

Im sure that Gordon wouldnt doubt the success of his revolt but he has taken Father too lightly.

It is true that Father did not expect Gordon to start a rebellion.

However, the Prime Minister is different.

Lets see what our Imperial Prime Minister has in store.

If it is as I expected then Gordon would be in for a world of surprise.

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